Hart of the Matter
by AZGirl
Summary: Gibbs and Tony discuss their encounters with M. Allison Hart. A collection of AUish tags to Hart related episodes. Spoilers inside.
1. Hart of the Matter

**Title**: Hart of the Matter

**Summary**: Gibbs and Tony discuss his involvement with M. Allison Hart. Tag to ep 7X14 Masquerade. Will likely end up being AU.

**Disclaimer**: NCIS is not mine. I'm just borrowing the concepts and characters for a little while.

**Spoilers**: You may not want to read this if you haven't seen 7.14 Masquerade…

**A/N**: You can blame this one on NCIS show runner Shane Brennan. Something he said in an interview got me thinking…

Many thanks to Anjelik for reading this and catching my stupid mistakes! I made a few changes after she read this, so blame me for any left over errors… ;o)

**ooooooo**

He saw the car as soon as he turned onto Gibbs' street. His gut immediately told him to keep going past the house and to not stop. So he did just that.

At the end of the street he turned around, shut his headlights off, and ended up parking his car in a spot that wasn't being touched by the street lamps' light. Shutting the engine off, he glanced towards the house and through the window saw two figures.

The taller of the two he knew was his boss, but he could only guess at the identity of the other, shorter person in the room. There wasn't enough light to see exactly what was going on, but he could clearly tell that the room's two occupants definitely felt some amount of hostility towards each other.

And, that's when it came to him who the other person in the house was. Currently, only one person could get Gibbs so riled up like that – M. Allison Hart. His suspicion was confirmed only seconds later when Gibbs turned on the room's light.

He could now see clearly into the room and he noted that Gibbs had this look on his face that was normally reserved for interrogating suspects. He was unsure what Hart's expression meant, but it almost seemed like she was baiting Gibbs. He didn't understand what game either one of them were playing, but he knew he would back Gibbs no matter what.

As he took a sip of his rapidly cooling coffee, he nearly choked a moment later when he saw Gibbs and Hart lean in to kiss each other.

_What the…?_ He thought to himself. _That's a dangerous game you're playing, Gibbs. That's, of course, assuming it is a game. And, I definitely shouldn't assume – it's against the rules_.

They continued in their close embrace and he almost hated himself for watching. When they lowered themselves to the couch, he almost convinced himself to leave, but his gut was telling him to stay.

ooooooo

Sitting in the dark in a car during the height of winter was definitely not his idea of a good time, but now that Gibbs had taken things to this level they definitely had to talk.

_Maybe I'm wrong to think Gibbs was going according to some plan. Maybe Gibbs really does like Hart despite the fact that she's a lawyer._

He sighed and pulled his coat tighter around himself. They definitely needed to talk and he'd wait all night if he had to.

He glanced back at the house. Gibbs and Hart were still on the couch, and he wondered if they were going to move things to the bedroom. He hoped not as Gibbs' shoulder was still in a lot of pain – even though his boss would never admit to it. Though, and he could practically feel the head slap for even thinking this, he knew they could easily get around Gibbs bum shoulder if they were really determined.

He hated watching a house that normally he'd be welcomed in. Spying on Gibbs reminded him a little too much of the mess he found himself in last year while trying to look out for Ziva. That situation had ended…"badly" just seemed such a wholly inappropriate word to describe everything that had happened.

Gibbs was probably the most important person in his life. _Who am I kidding?_ He nearly said aloud._ Gibbs is __the__ most important person in my life_. _Somehow over the last almost nine years, Gibbs and his gruff ways have managed to fill the emptiness that my father's absence and neglect had created inside me. _

He didn't think he would be able to survive if Gibbs wasn't in his life – keeping him focused, keeping him alive, being his friend and mentor, just … being there for him. In fact, he knew it would destroy him if he lost all of that. Without Gibbs in his life, there was really no point in staying with NCIS or even in D.C. though he knew that Abby and Ducky would try to convince him otherwise.

He took another sip of his coffee to try to dispel the morose thoughts whirring around inside his head. It definitely worked as he got a mouthful of ice-cold coffee – something that was really only appropriate during the summer months. He looked toward the living room window, but quickly averted his eyes to keep from watching everything they were doing.

He checked his watch to see that it had been almost 30 minutes since he had arrived at Gibbs' house. He looked longingly at the bag on his passenger seat. It had been his turn to bring dinner and the now cold Chinese food still smelled delicious to his empty stomach. With his luck, if he ate any of the food now, then Hart would leave soon after he finished thereby earning Gibbs wrath and more than likely an extra head slap. So, he decided that for now he'd wait and let the growling of his stomach distract him from a task that normally didn't seem so voyeuristic or such an invasion of privacy.

He glanced again at the house and saw that Hart had stood up and then turning slightly, she held out her hand. He could almost swear his jaw dropped to hit the steering wheel when Gibbs actually accepted the help off the couch. They began walking slowly in the direction of both the stairs and the front door.

It was the moment of truth. If the front door _didn't_ open in the next few minutes, then he knew that he'd have to spend a frozen night alone in his car waiting to talk to his boss in the morning. If the front door _did_ open, then they'd have to talk. And, while he knew what needed to be said, he just didn't know how to say it without risking some sort of fall out between them.

Two minutes later, the front door opened. He watched as Gibbs kissed Hart one last time before escorting her to her car. Gibbs stayed outside just long enough to make sure it started, then he turned and began striding purposefully back towards his front door.

As Gibbs began walking, Tony started counting backwards from ten as he reached into his coat pocket to grab his cell phone. By the time he had reached six, it rang.

Without checking the caller ID, he flipped his phone open and said, "I brought Chinese."

His Boss, as ever dispensing with the pleasantries ordered, "Get your ass inside before you freeze to death."

Tony smiled as he flipped his phone shut and watched as Gibbs entered the house. He started to grab for the take out, but stopped as a thought suddenly leaped to mind. He grabbed a pad of paper and pen from the car's glove box and wrote something down. He then tore the sheet of paper off the pad and tossed it and the pen back in before grabbing the bag of their long cold dinner.

Entering the house, he deposited his coat on the stand by the door while saying, "Sorry I'm late with dinner Boss, but there was a lot of traffic due to an accident near by."

Entering the living room, he immediately came almost face to face with Gibbs who motioned to him that someone could be listening at the same time that he held up the note he'd written in the car. It said – _Safe to talk?_

Gibbs got this odd look on his face before he smirked and said in a disappointed tone, "DiNozzo how many times do I have to tell you to never say you're sorry. It's a – "

"I know. I know. A sign of weakness." Tony said in a dejected voice all the while smiling like a Cheshire cat.

Tony started to turn away to lay the bag of food on the coffee table when he felt the sting to the back of his head.

"Ow!" he exclaimed lifting a hand to the newly tender spot on his head. "What was that for?"

"Interrupting me," Gibbs replied looking like he was enjoying the charade a little too much.

ooooooo

They had been eating in what was actually their more usual than not silence when Tony said, "I need to get going soon. I have to get back to the office to finish some paperwork or my boss will head slap me for not getting it done on time."

Gibbs smirked and said, "You're right. He probably would and he might do it in the next couple of minutes if you're not careful. Actually, I think I'll go in with you. Vance keeps bugging me about getting some HR-related paperwork done that's a complete waste of time but is apparently necessary to make the world go round."

"Great," Tony replied managing to make it sound like it was actually the least 'great' thing he'd ever heard.

ooooooo

They finished eating and made short work of cleaning up their mess.

Once outside his front door, Gibbs said in a low voice, "I'll meet you at the park down the street."

Tony had already been walking to his own car at Gibbs' statement so he acknowledged it with a wave.

ooooooo

At the park, Tony pulled into the space next to Gibbs' truck. He got out of his just now warming up car and got into Gibbs' perfectly toasty one.

Gibbs handed him a hot coffee and took a sip of his own. Tony shook his head in disbelief and wondered just how fast his boss had driven to be able to pick up the hot beverages and still make it to the park ahead of him.

"Thanks, Boss," he said as he took a sip, smiling that his friend had remembered just how he liked his coffee.

They sat silently for a few moments before they each took a sip from their respective coffees.

Gibbs broke the silence by asking, "Why did you think my house was bugged?"

"Well," Tony began and paused. He took a breath and continued, "Hart was obviously waiting for you in your house when you got home. She had who knows how much time to plant any number of listening devices. Apparently you thought the same thing otherwise you wouldn't have signaled me like that back at your house."

"You don't trust Hart?" Gibbs asked already knowing what answer his senior field agent would give.

"Hell no, Boss! Colonel Bell is planning something – perhaps even some type of revenge against you or the team – and I just know that she's working with him."

He knew Gibbs was waiting for more of an explanation, but instead he paused and looked down at the coffee cup in his hand. He suddenly felt unsure if he should continue to voice his thoughts about what he'd observed between Gibbs and Hart.

He took a deep breath and looked Gibbs in the eyes.

"You said to me yesterday that you suspected Hart was only taking those pro bono cases that would put her in a position to yank your chain and make our lives miserable. But, based on tonight's, uh, advancement in your relationship, I have to wonder if that's what you still think. So, I have to ask – are you interested in her or is this all part of some plan?"

For a brief time, Tony saw anger in Gibbs' eyes and then something else he couldn't quite identify.

Before Gibbs could say anything though, Tony continued on, "I need to know Gibbs. Something is not quite right about all of this. You've said on multiple occasions that there are no coincidences. And, I wouldn't be doing my job as senior field agent or even as your friend if I didn't warn you about how potentially dangerous it is to get involved with Hart. And, if this is part of a plan to find out what Bell is up to, then I want to be in on it. I want to help." He smiled broadly and added, "Besides, someone needs to watch your six, right?"

Gibbs brought his hand up and Tony closed his eyes and flinched in preparation for a head slap that would probably knock him into next Tuesday. Instead he felt a hand gently grab the back of his neck and give it a slight squeeze.

He opened his eyes in surprise at the unexpected physical affection to see Gibbs smirking.

"Right," he said before releasing Tony's neck and giving him a tap under the chin.

Tony gave a small smile and they both turned to look out the front windshield. As they each took sips of their coffees, Tony hoped that maybe this time, helping a friend would turn out better than the last time. In response to his thoughts, Tony's gut briefly twisted.

_Maybe not_, he thought miserably.

**ooooooo**

_**The end**_**.**

**ooooooo**

**A/N**: I purposely left this open as there is no way for me to know what's going to happen with that storyline. Future episodes will dictate whether or not there are any follow-ups to this story, but no guarantees. ;o)

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Words to Live By

**Chapter Title**: Words to Live By

**Chapter Summary**: Tony questions Gibbs' decision to hire Hart and wonders what he's planning. AU tag to 7.16 Mother's Day. A sequel of sorts to chapter one of Hart of the Matter.

**Disclaimer**: NCIS is not mine. I'm just borrowing the concepts and characters for a little while.

**Spoilers**: 7.16 Mother's Day

**A/N**: You might want to read _Hart of the Matter_ before you read this tag – it's not necessary though.

Many thanks to Anjelik for her help with this story! Any remaining mistakes are mine…

**ooooooo**

"You'll never guess who I ran into at Joann's house?" Tony said as he closed the front door.

"Or, maybe you will." He mumbled as set the bags of food on the table.

Gibbs looked at the bags, then up at DiNozzo, "Did you get –"

"Egg Drop Soup. Of course, Boss. Don't I always?" he said as he sat down next to Gibbs on the couch.

He opened the bags and started taking out cartons of food. Placing the soup in front of Gibbs he reminded, "You never answered my question."

"Thought it was rhetorical," Gibbs replied before taking a sip of soup.

Tony snorted and said, "Thought so. Do you know what you're doing?"

Gibbs paused with the soup half-way to his mouth and just glared at his senior agent.

Tony cleared his throat and quickly became very interested in the contents of the nearest food carton.

"Of course you do," he sarcastically said. "Why didn't you tell me you were going to call Hart?"

"I did." Gibbs replied as Tony was lifting a forkful of food to his mouth.

Tony couldn't help at that moment but marvel at his Boss' talent of saying so much with so few words. But every once in awhile Tony still felt like he needed a translator.

He lowered his fork. "You did. When? Was it when you ordered me to check up on Joann?"

"Yep," Gibbs replied slightly smirking.

"Okay," he smiled in return, accepting the almost non-answer. "So, why _did_ you call Hart?"

Gibbs finished the last swallow of soup and put the empty container down before finally answering, "She's using me – using us. I thought I'd use her a little in return."

"So you asked her to be your mother-in-law's lawyer?" he asked almost not believing what he was hearing.

"Yep."

They continued eating in silence, with both of them contemplating recent events. Tony could tell that Gibbs was content to drop the subject of why he hired M. Allison Hart as Joann's attorney, but his mind was on overdrive.

After going over everything he knew about the case, he realized that his Boss must be up to something that he had decided not to share with his senior field agent. His gut was telling him that he was missing vital information that he needed to figure out just what Gibbs was planning.

A suspicion was forming, but he chose not to dwell on it any further. No matter how long they'd been working together or how good of friends they had become; the subjects of Shannon and Kelly and especially their deaths seemed to remain taboo. Gibbs never brought them up and he never dared to ask about them.

He tried not to be hurt or offended by the seeming lack of trust with something so personal especially now in light of his father's recent visit. But he couldn't help the modicum of insecurity that stirred up in him over it. Suddenly he didn't feel as hungry as before, but forced himself to keep eating so as to not alert Gibbs to his doubts.

"It's not that I don't trust you," Gibbs suddenly, but softly, said.

"Huh?" Tony intelligently replied. _What did I miss?_

"I said. It's not that I don't trust you," he repeated, enunciating every word.

"Um – okay," was the only slightly more intelligent response.

To cover his confusion over whether Gibbs meant this situation with Joann, or Shannon and Kelly, or both, he leaned forward to grab the carton of spring rolls. Suddenly he felt a slight sting on the back of his head.

Reaching to touch the spot on his head, he realized that as headslaps go, this was nothing but a tap to get him focused again. He locked eyes with Gibbs.

"Plausible deniability."

Tony nodded and smiled broadly. Gibbs' semi-cryptic statement confirmed to Tony that his Boss was definitely up to something. That the lack of disclosure was _not_ a lack of trust, but his Boss watching his six – just like always.

ooooooo

_The end._

**ooooooo**

**A/N**: The title of this chapter was inspired by an episode of White Collar (_Free Fall_?)… FBI Agent Peter Burke doesn't want to know where Neal Caffrey (Convict Consultant to the FBI, who is on the run in this ep) is going. Neal says something like, "I get it, plausible deniability." and Peter responds, "Word to live by." Such a great episode and Peter and Neal's relationship often reminds me of Gibbs and Tony….

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. Too Many Coincidences

**Chapter Title**: Too Many Coincidences

**Chapter Summary**: Tony and Gibbs don't believe in coincidences.

**Disclaimer**: NCIS is not mine. I'm just borrowing the concepts and characters for a little while.

**Spoilers**: 7.21 Obsession

**A/N**: Gibbs remark about the 'list of coincidences' partially inspired this one.

Many thanks to _Anjelik_ who took time from her studies to beta this story. Any remaining mistakes are mine.

**ooooooo**

The sounds of Gibbs working on the wood washed over him as he downed the last of the bourbon in his glass. After Gibbs had admitted that Rule 10 had been the rule he'd always had the most trouble with, they'd both fallen silent. No words were needed. Each let the other's presence provide steady support for the other.

Gibbs had gone back to working on his new project while Tony just sat there watching and listening. But, after awhile, the sounds that normally were a balm to his battered psyche, that usually calmed him, eventually started to grate upon his nerves as the memories of the last few days threatened to overwhelm him.

He'd been so focused on finding Dana Hutton that he'd barely paid any attention to everything else that had been going on around him. Now, unbidden, that knowledge had decided to come to the forefront of his mind. It was demanding his attention – demanding that he now focus on what he'd likely missed.

Facts came together. Connections were made. Ideas were considered and either accepted or rejected. But, there was one thought that his mind kept circling back to: there were too many coincidences related to this case.

Even though it seemingly ended up being all about the money, about greed; too much in the last few days had some sort of connection to Bell and Mexico. It was too convenient…too coincidental.

_Too many coincidences_, he thought to himself.

"What did you say Tony?" a voice broke into his thoughts and startled him.

Tony hadn't realized he'd spoken out loud. He tried to cover up his reaction by standing up and taking off his jacket, but he knew Gibbs likely saw through his actions.

Laying his jacket on the sawhorse, he said, "Too many coincidences, Boss."

"I know."

Tony's head jerked upward at his Boss' words. When Gibbs returned to the piece of wood he'd been working on, Tony decided that he was being encouraged to continue his train of thought.

"Rivera as our liaison with the task force in Mexico;" he began as he started pacing back and forth like a caged lion. "Hart being appointed legal counsel to the task force and not only knowing Rivera, but having worked with him to get Bell out of jail. Dana _and_ her brother were both researching private military companies in a negative light…"

He flung his hands up in frustration as he paced, "Too many coincidences!"

"Well, yeah, DiNozzo. Thanks for the recap. You know I don't – "

"Believe in coincidences," Tony interrupted stopping in his tracks. "I got it, Boss."

Gibbs' glare at him for interrupting was enough to make him happy that he'd stopped pacing out of reach of a headslap. The extra energy he'd gained from the pent up frustration left him as he sighed heavily. And, as he was never one to back down from Gibbs, he decided to tempt fate and go back within headslap range to the sawhorse he'd been sitting on.

Leaning against the sawhorse, he came to the realization that his boss had commented the way he had to get him back on track. But, though it had distracted him from the list of 'coincidences,' he still didn't know what to think of them. His gaze focused on the shelving on the back wall as he tried to reconcile his now jumbled thoughts.

"I'm … missing… something…," he said transfixed by items that he'd seen too many times to count. "Some key piece of information, but I've absolutely no clue as to what it could be. I keep thinking it has to do with Mexico, but…"

Tony paused and looked up at Gibbs to gauge his boss' opinion of what he'd just said and noticed that Gibbs had this far away look on his face. It was there one moment and gone in the next. Tony had no idea what to make of that look, and lately every time he even thought the word 'Mexico' his stomach churned.

_Speaking of_, Tony thought to himself as he lifted his hand to rub his stomach a bit. _What had I been saying? Damn it! I got distracted…_ He bowed his head for a few seconds. _God, I'm tired_.

He looked up and was surprised to see that while he'd been distracted, Gibbs had removed the wood he'd been working on from the workbench's clamp and set it aside. He watched as Gibbs poured himself a shot of bourbon into his coffee cup and another into Tony's glass.

Tony decided to bring up the other issue that had been bothering him while trying to remember his previous train of thought.

"I'm sure you know by now that Abby's going to speak at a symposium down in Mexico," he stated as he mentally apologized to his gut for even bringing up the evil word again. "You're not going to let her go alone are you?"

Gibbs pulled out another sawhorse and sat down across from him. "McGee's going with her. Vance agreed."

"Vance?! Really?"

_What's the Toothpick up to now_, he couldn't help thinking as Gibbs nodded but didn't elaborate.

Instead his boss said, "Hart knew Dana."

"Great," he groaned and brought a hand up to rub his tired eyes. "Another coincidence."

"Yep."

They sat there for a time relishing in the silence and occasionally taking a sip of their drinks.

"I really wish I knew what Hart and Bell were up to," Tony tiredly said. "It feels like they're getting ready to make a move and we, or at least, _I_ have no idea what it could be."

"Now that Hart is a temporary employee of NCIS, we should be able to track her movements more closely."

"And she, ours," Tony couldn't help reminding him.

"I know," he replied acknowledging the obvious truth.

"So, that's it. That's all we can do? Watch and wait? This plan sucks!" he practically whined, then broke out into a jaw-splitting yawn.

"It's the only one we got for now. We'll just have to be ready for anything."

"Right," he yawned while rubbing his eyes again.

"Bed. Now." Gibbs gently ordered slapping Tony's knee.

Nodding, Tony grabbed his jacket and headed towards the stairs. Half-way up, he mumbled a "Night, Boss" to Gibbs.

And, as Tony passed the threshold of the basement, he suddenly felt a loss that he couldn't explain.

ooooooo

_The end_.

**ooooooo**

**A/N**: Anyone else freaking out about the season finale yet?

BTW, I have a question: Where did Maggie Reed (aka the murderer) get the ricin?

_**Thanks for reading!**_


	4. Broken Rules

**Chapter Title**: Broken Rules aka Watch Your Six

**Chapter Summary**: Gibbs realizes that his actions have led him to break too many of his rules.

**Disclaimer**: NCIS is not mine. I'm just borrowing the concepts and characters for a little while.

**Spoilers**: 7.23 Patriot Down

**A/N**: The first line of this story was taken directly from the episode written by Gary Glasberg. I hope he doesn't mind me borrowing it. ;o]

**ooooooo**

"I'll find Gibbs," Tony says as he heads out of Vance's office.

Closing the door behind him, he fishes his cell phone out of his pocket as he heads down the hall towards the landing. Pressing speed dial '1' he knows that Gibbs probably won't answer, but still he has hope that maybe, just maybe he might.

As the ringing predictably switches over to Gibbs' voicemail, he can't help but hang his head in defeat. Ever since Abby came back from Mexico –

_Not now stomach_, he thought to himself as his gut painfully clenched.

Ever since Abby came back, he'd noticed Gibbs had not been his usual bastard self. No, lately he'd been much worse. But, he could also sense an underlying sadness and something else – worry? defeat?

All Tony knew was that his Boss, his friend, had gone off without him to do something that would probably get himself killed. Once Gibbs got it in his mind to go off alone, absolutely no one could change his mind, and yet here he was trying anyway.

Bringing his right hand up to rub some tension out of his face, he was startled by the beep prompting him to leave a message.

"Boss, Vance is looking for you," he paused then snorted. "But you could care less, I'm sure. He's got Hart in his office and probably has her spilling her guts by now.

"I know you think you need to do this own your own," he briefly paused again. "But you don't! Let us help! Let _me_ help!" Without realizing it, the intensity and determination in his voice had increased with each successive word.

He sighed heavily and his shoulders subconsciously hunched over in defeat.

In a voice that broke slightly, he said, "Watch your six."

He snapped his phone shut and headed towards the bullpen. He would do as he was told and search for Gibbs, but knew they wouldn't be able to catch up to him.

His gut painfully kept reminding him that Mexico was the key.

ooooooo

"Watch your six," Gibbs let his head hang a little as he heard the slight break in Tony's voice as the voice message ended.

Snapping his phone shut, he closed his eyes. Opening them, he took a deep breath and as he shakily blew it out, he put his phone in his car's glove compartment.

"I'm sorry, Tony," he whispered and opened the car door grabbing his go bag on the way out.

He felt like he had broken and was breaking too many of his rules.

_Rule 6: Never say you're sorry. Rule 10: Never get personally involved in a case. Rules 3, 13, 15_…more? And he'd broken the most important one of all –

_Rule 1: Never screw over your partner_.

Tony likely would be hurt and feeling betrayed after all their plotting against Hart and Bell, but there was no help for that now.

Hart knew much more than she was saying, but that didn't matter any more. Macy was dead because of his actions 20 years ago, and now Franks and his family were also in danger. All because of him.

And, there was no way in hell he was going to put his friends, _his family_ in any more danger.

What he was about to do could cost him everything else he cared about – his job, his freedom, his life…

He was willing to risk it all just to protect them.

Even if it meant he'd have to go it alone.

ooooooo

_The End._

**ooooooo**

**A/N**: I found a list of Gibbs' Rules and mined what was there for this story…. Episodes where the above rules were mentioned are:

_Rule 1_ = 4.14. Blowback;

_Rule 3(Never be unreachable) _= 3.13 Deception;

_Rule 6_ = 7.12 Flesh and Blood (and, yes, I remember the 'not amongst friends' exception);

_Rule 10_ = 7.21 Obsession;

_Rule 13(Never, ever involve lawyers)_ = 6.07 Collateral Damage;

_Rule 15(Always work as a team) _= 5.05 Leap of Faith.

BTW, does anyone know exactly what _Rule 44_ is/was? Gibbs never actually says it, does he? Was it in a previous episode?

_**Thanks for reading!**_


	5. The New Rule

**Chapter Title**: The New Rule

**Chapter Summary**: A new rule. A lesson learned. A decision made.

**Disclaimer**: NCIS is not mine. I'm just borrowing the concepts and characters for a little while.

**Spoilers**: 7.24 Rule Fifty-one

**A/N**: So who else thinks it's going to be a long summer waiting for the season 8 premiere?

No beta. All mistakes are mine.

**ooooooo**

_#51 Sometimes – you're wrong_.

Lost in thought over everything that had happened recently, he almost didn't hear the ringing of his cell phone until it was too late.

"Yeah, Gibbs."

"Boss," Tony began, but was cut off by Gibbs.

"I know. I'll be there soon."

"Boss?" Tony replied confused, then quickly realized the mistake. "No. I saw Franks."

"Franks?" Gibbs couldn't believe it. "Is he OK?"

"You mean besides the bloody stump on his hand?" Tony said sarcastically before sobering his tone. "He seemed more than OK to me."

"Where?"

"Vance had me following Rivera – observe and report only. From out of nowhere Franks grabs me and says he'd take it from there. He had a gun and…"

"And?"

"He said he could pull the trigger with his thumb then started after Rivera."

Something in Tony's voice alerted him that there was more to it and that it was more than likely bad. He waited for DiNozzo to continue.

"For whatever reason I just let him go, and by the time I'd gotten my head back into the game, they were both gone – lost in the crowds."

Gibbs could hear the apology in Tony's voice and made sure his voice sounded calm in return. "Check in with Vance, then head over here. We have to talk."

He hung up his phone and placed it back into his suit pocket. Someday, he hoped Ziva would understand why he and Tony had not made it to her citizenship ceremony. Besides, depending on how his talk went with DiNozzo, then perhaps they'd still be able to make it to dinner later with the team.

Picking up the box that he'd laid upon the bed when he'd answered his phone, he began once again to sort through its contents. But, his eyes continued to stray to the new rule he'd written down not too long ago.

_#51 Sometimes – you're wrong_.

All these years, he'd been so determined to follow his rules to the letter that he'd lost sight of the possibility that maybe, just maybe some of them could possibly be flawed.

Case in point was _Rule 13:_ _Never ever involve lawyers_. While Rule 13 would normally apply to every other lawyer he'd ever met, apparently M. Allison Hart was its one exception. Granted, she'd been working for Bell, but she'd proven to be something else – a friend? an ally? – by taking possession of Abby's forensic report. She'd even given him the benefit of the doubt to a certain degree over Hernandez' murder.

In short, he'd been wrong about her.

And now it seemed appropriate that he'd memorialized this lesson he'd finally learned on the same scrap of paper upon which Rule 13 had originally been written.

_#51 Sometimes – you're wrong_.

He needed to tell Tony everything. Recently, he'd kept his distance from Tony and kept his own counsel in order to protect his agent and friend. But now, he felt the time was right to tell Tony about what he'd done all those years ago, how it had led to Hart, and how that had all eventually led to this new rule.

Besides him, Tony and Abby seemed to know all his rules by heart. God only knew how as he didn't even remember telling them all the rules preferring that they learn them as various situations brought them to light. So, it was only fitting that at least one of them was the first to learn the new rule.

_#51 Sometimes – you're wrong_.

Tony especially deserved to be made aware of it first given all they gone through together in relation to Hart. It was the least he could do for a friend who had stood by him no matter what and had watched his six all these years. Gibbs just hoped Tony would still stand by him once he'd learned the whole truth. His gut was telling him that Tony would, but –

_#51 Sometimes – you're wrong_.

ooooooo

_The End?_

**ooooooo**

**A/N:** This may or may not be the final _Hart of the Matter_ tag in the series – it all depends on whether or not the character is back next season.

_On the 28__th__ of May two years ago, I published the first chapter of my very first story here on this site. While two-year anniversaries are not usually a big deal, I thought the NCIS fandom might appreciate the significance. ;o]_

_**To all those who have read, reviewed, alerted, and/or favorited any of my stories over the last two years – Thank You!**_


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